Free expression advocates this week are applauding Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for signing a first-in-the-nation law that prohibits book bans at public libraries—a move that the Democratic governor said was a matter of resisting “a dangerous strain of white nationalism” that’s behind a nationwide push to restrict access to books about people of color and LGBTQ+ communities.

The law (H.B. 2789) was signed Monday and will go into effect on January 1, 2024, barring public libraries from accessing state grants unless they adopt the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights, which states that materials must not be proscribed or removed from a library “because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”

“We’re showing everyone what it looks like to stand up for liberty. As simple as that,” said Pritzker on social media after signing the bill. “Because what these book bans in libraries really are about is censorship—marginalizing people, ideas, and facts.”

As Common Dreams